Martin R. Delany (1812–1885)

(Side note: I believe the version I have, published by Flame Tree, contains only part I of Delany's book but not part II. After some research I'm now interested in reading the version published by Harvard University Press in 2017 which apparently does contain part II/the Cuban chapters.)

While Blake; or The Huts of America felt a bit tedious (mid-1800s writing + some dialect) at the start, I quickly became fully absorbed & was in its thrall for the remainder of the book. Delany portrays show more enslaved people from various locations throughout the southern US (as the protagonist travels to foment revolution), as well as the grief & dangers they routinely faced. The casual & awful cruelties by whites is deftly shown. He doesn't linger on scenes though -- there's a lot of travel & movement in this story.

The version I read is part of a series of "Foundations of Black Science Fiction". While I wouldn't necessarily classify this particular book as science fiction, it is an alternative history.

I'm surprised this isn't a better known book of early abolitionist & Black nationalist writing. The description of the book says that Delany wrote it, in part, in response to the Dred Scott vs. Sandford case in 1857 (in which SCOTUS said that the Constitution did not extend citizenship to people of Black African descent, thus denying rights under the Constitution to them). As I've tried to read more widely in the past few years, this feels like an important addition to the books I've been reading. Sadly, seeing the mention of Dred Scott, along with my recent reading about the Scopes trial (2025 is the 100th anniversary of it), just further underline the current conditions in our nation. I guess those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, as the saying goes.

Definitely recommended. show less